''Lucky Jordan'' is a 1942 comedy film directed by

Frank Tuttle Frank Wright Tuttle (August 6, 1892 – January 6, 1963) was a Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 (''The Cradle Buster'') to 1959 (''Island of Lost Women''). Biography Frank Tuttle was ...

and starring

Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd (September 3, 1913 – January 29, 1964) was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in ...

in his first leading role,

Helen Walker Helen Marion Walker (July 17, 1920 – March 10, 1968) was an American actress.Obituary '' Variety'', March 13, 1968, page 79. Biography 1920–1940: Early life Helen Marion Walker was born July 17, 1920, in Worcester, Massachusetts, the daught ...

in her film debut and

Sheldon Leonard Sheldon Leonard Bershad (February 22, 1907 – January 11, 1997) was an American film and television actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. Early life Sheldon Leonard Bershad was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of middle-class ...

. The screenplay concerns a self-centered gangster who tangles with Nazi spies.

Plot

During World War II, gangster Lucky Jordan is drafted and sent to a training base near his

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

office. He avoids the rigors of boot camp, hiding in the unit's canteen. One of the attendants, Jill Evans, reports him to the base colonel and he is sent to the

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

. Jordan escapes by stealing an

army engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

's car. Outside the camp, Jordan is run off the road by two thugs, but they flee when Jill happens onto the scene. Jordan forces Jill to accompany him to the city. She responds by angrily discarding a briefcase containing army documents. After sneaking back into his headquarters, Jordan learns from disloyal underling Slip that the two men he encountered outside the base were after the briefcase Jill discarded. An enemy spy ring has offered $50,000 for it. After retrieving the briefcase and its information, Jordan orders Slip to arrange an exchange. Later, the thugs surprise Jordan, knock him unconscious, and run off with the papers. Jordan tracks the spy ring to a botanical preserve on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, where he finds Slip and a traitor named Kilpatrick holding the papers. Jordan grabs the documents and flees. The preserve's exits are immediately locked, but Jordan hides the papers and an explanatory note inside a man's umbrella. Jill, who has trailed Jordan to the preserve, asks a guard to use a phone to notify authorities of Jordan's location. The guard instead connects her to Kilpatrick, who deceives her by masquerading as a government agent, causing her to unwittingly assist in Jordan's capture. Herr Kesselman, the spy ring's chief, oversees an interrogation of Jordan, who is threatened with torture and quickly invents a story about the location of the papers. After he is left alone with Kesselman and a lone guard, Jordan grabs the guard's gun. He then tells Kesselman he will surrender the papers to the government out of a sense of new-found patriotism. The

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

arrives and nabs the entire ring. Jill tells Lucky he will probably get a medal, but he is returned to the stockade to serve the remainder of his punishment.

Cast

as Lucky Jordan *

as Jill Evans *

as Slip Moran * Mabel Paige as Annie *

Marie McDonald Marie McDonald (born Cora Marie Frye, July 6, 1923 – October 21, 1965) was an American singer. She started her career at a young age, participating in beauty pageants and gaining attention as "The Queen of Coney Island" and "Miss New York Stat ...

as Pearl, Lucky's secretary *

Lloyd Corrigan Lloyd Corrigan (October 16, 1900 – November 5, 1969) was an American film and television actor, producer, screenwriter, and director who began working in films in the 1920s. The son of actress Lillian Elliott, Corrigan directed films, usually ...

as Ernest Higgins *

Dave Willock David Willock (August 13, 1909 – November 12, 1990) was an American character actor. He appeared in 181 films and television series from 1939 to 1979. Biography Born in 1909, Willock began his professional career in vaudeville in 1931, tea ...

as Angelo Palacio *Russell Hoyt as Eddie *

John Wengraf John Wengraf (23 April 1897 – 4 May 1974) was an Austrian actor. Early years Wengraf was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. Career Wengraf became a matinee idol in the 1930s, and was director of the Vienna State Theatre. He emigrated to Brit ...

as Herr Kesselman *

Miles Mander Miles Mander (born Lionel Henry Mander; 14 May 1888 – 8 February 1946), was an English character actor, writer, director and producer in the post-war period of early British cinema during the 1920s to mid-1930s, as well as a playwright an ...

as Kilpatrick *

Clem Bevans Clem Guy Bevans (October 16, 1879 – August 11, 1963) was an American character actor best remembered for playing eccentric, grumpy old men. Early life Bevans was born in Cozzadale, Ohio. Career Bevans had a very long career, starting in va ...

as Gas station attendant * Anthony Caruso as Hired Gun / Gardener *Charles Cane as Sergeant *George Meader as Little Man * Virginia Brissac as Little Man's Wife * Kitty Kelly as Vera Maggotti *George Humbert as Joe Maggotti * Al Hill as First Killer *

Fred Kohler Jr. Fred Kohler Jr. (July 8, 1911 – January 7, 1993) was an American actor who performed in a number of Westerns such as ''The Pecos Kid'' and ''Toll of the Desert''. He played nearly 130 film and television roles between 1929 and 1978. Kohler's ...

as Second Killer

Production

The film was based on an original screenplay by Charles Leonard, ''Prelude to Glory'', about a gangster who joins the army. Paramount bought the script in March 1942 as a vehicle for Alan Ladd.

Karl Tunberg Karl Tunberg (March 11, 1907 − April 3, 1992) was an American screenwriter and occasional film producer. His screenplays for '' Tall, Dark and Handsome'' (1941) and '' Ben-Hur'' (1959) were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original ...

and

Darrell Ware Darrell Ware (1906–1944) was an American screenwriter and film producer. Ware and Karl Tunberg were nominees for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 14th Academy Awards for their film ''Tall, Dark, and Handsome''. Ware wrote ...

were assigned to rewrite the screenplay.

Paulette Goddard Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress and socialite. Her career spanned six decades, from the 1920s to the early 1970s. She was a prominent leading actress during the Golden Age of Hollywood ...

was announced as Ladd's costar but eventually withdrew. Her part was taken by Helen Walker, who had arrived in Hollywood just one month before being cast. Walker had been signed by Paramount on the basis of her Broadway success in ''Jason''. This was her first film role. The film was Ladd's second since becoming a star, and the first for which he was billed alone above the title. The film was retitled ''Lucky Jordan'' in July 1942. Ladd's briefcase in the film is the same that he had used as Raven in '' This Gun for Hire''. He believed that the prop would bring good luck.

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', critic Howard Thompson wrote: " add'sportrayal of Lucky Jordan will not disappoint, though the film leaves one wishing that Paramount had provided a worthier screen play, particularly since this is his first starring vehicle. This is not to say that there are not moments of sharp suspense in 'Lucky Jordan,' moments that are as toughly melodramatic as you are likely to encounter in a dozen such films. But the over-all effect is far from satisfying, for the plot is hackneyed and about as porous as a Swiss cheese." The film broke the house attendance record at New York's Rialto Theatre in its first week of release.

References

External links

* * *
Review of film
at

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

* {{Frank Tuttle 1942 films American spy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Frank Tuttle Films scored by Adolph Deutsch Paramount Pictures films World War II films made in wartime World War II spy films 1940s English-language films English-language spy films